3Cr13 in stock
Only for light or non-critical use. 3Cr13 is a Chinese GB stainless with about 0.30% carbon and 13% chromium, running 48 to 54 HRC. Corrosion resistance is good and it is very easy to sharpen, but the low carbon means poor wear resistance and an edge that softens quickly.
At 0.30% carbon there is simply not enough to form the carbides that resist wear, and the steel cannot be hardened far. A working hardness in the high 40s to low 50s HRC is soft by knife standards.
Everything else follows from that. It will not hold a fine edge under load, and it will roll rather than chip.
Promotional knives, giveaway tools, and blades where corrosion resistance and cost matter more than cutting. It appears mostly on closeout and budget-tier products, which is where our steel reference places it.
Used within that scope it is not a scandal. Sold as a performance steel it would be.
Sharpen at a slightly steeper angle than you would use on a harder steel. A very acute edge on soft steel rolls almost immediately.
Then sharpen it often. It comes back in seconds on anything, which is the one genuine advantage of a soft blade.
The grid below shows 3Cr13 listings from Böker Plus and Kershaw, chosen from the catalog when this answer was written. Each one carries 3Cr13 in its own specification table, and its price is read from the live catalog every time the site is built.
